


Against All Odds

by sauvignonfierce



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Fluff, I couldn't get this stupid idea out of my head, Multi, Prom fic, Underage Drinking, comments will keep me writing for this dumb ship i've fallen in love with, stoncy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-12 17:54:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19950412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sauvignonfierce/pseuds/sauvignonfierce
Summary: Jonathan had gradually come around to the idea of Prom, mainly because Nancy and Steve were excited about it. He didn’t care who was crowned Prom King or Prom Queen, he didn’t care about the “Under the Sea” theme that was advertised on posters plastered all over the school, he didn’t even care that he wouldn’t be able to kiss Steve on the dance floor. He knew they’d have to make sacrifices to go together, but he was excited to see their faces. It felt like their entire high school careers had been leading up to this one event, or at least that’s what tv shows and movies had made him believe.*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *        *Aka, Jonathan hates Uptown Girl, Nancy can't stop laughing and Steve just wants to get some sleep.





	Against All Odds

“So, Prom’s coming up,” Joyce said to Jonathan one night over dinner. Will tried to stifle a laugh with a mouthful of mashed potatoes, earning a sharp look from his mother.

“Yeah,” Jonathan said back, shuffling the peas around his plate. 

“Are you going with Steve and Nancy?” She had been remarkably cool with learning about their three person relationship, which he appreciated, but didn’t make him any more inclined to talk to his mother about it. 

“Yeah, I am,” he responded. 

“Well, if you need some money for a tux rental or anything, just let me know.” He rolled his eyes fondly. 

“Thanks.” He rushed to finish dinner and then left to meet up with Nancy and Steve, waving his hand as Joyce yelled for him to be home by midnight. 

.

“We have to talk prom outfits,” Nancy said in lieu of a hello as he stepped into Steve’s house. His parents were out of town, as they were most weekends, and they had the run of the place. 

“Nice to see you too,” he said, smiling widely. Steve huffed out a laugh and kissed Jonathan softly, ignoring the spread of magazine pages Nancy had laid out on the kitchen table. 

“She’s going insane, isn’t she?” Jonathan asked, bumping noses with his boyfriend. 

“Oh, completely. She’s not going to be happy about us making her wear a straight jacket to prom.” Jonathan laughed and followed Steve into the living room. 

“So, this is a lot,” Steve commented, sitting on the couch and looking at the splashes of color on the pages. 

“I know, I know. I’m just trying to figure out what color would be best. I’m thinking light pink, but I also like this blue,” she said, pointing to several images on the pages. Steve knew very little about women’s fashion and tried to feign interest by asking some questions about what she was looking for in a dress. Jonathan sat next to him, back against the couch cushions and watched the two talk. He had even less interest in women’s fashion than Steve did. 

“The blue,” Steve said, nodding.

“You think?” She asked, sitting back on her heels and looking at the photo with a little distance. 

“Yeah it’ll look great on you. Plus, then Jonathan and I won’t have to wear pink bow ties.” He grinned at Nancy, who rolled her eyes fondly, leaning against Steve’s legs from her spot on the floor. 

“Are you guys sure you want to do this? Everyone’s going to see us,” Jonathan said. He wanted to go to Prom with them, he wanted to dance and be a stupid teenager for a night with the two people he loved but he knew it wasn’t that easy. 

“Of course we’re sure,” Steve said. “We’re the ones who asked you, remember?” He nudged Jonathan with his elbow, bringing his hand up to rest on the other boys thigh. “It’ll be fun. And you’ll look damn good in a tux, Byers.” Nancy giggled a bit, craning her head up to look at Jonathan. His cheeks were tinged pink but he was smiling. 

“We don’t have to make out on the dance floor or anything,” Nancy assured him. “We can just all go together. It’ll be fun, okay?” 

“Yeah,” he said, nodding to her. He knew they wanted to go, and that was enough for him. 

“I know we think we’re sneaky, but I’m pretty sure the entire school has already figure out there’s something going on and I don’t think they care,” Steve said, resting his head against the back of the couch and looking at Jonathan. It was true. They might not all hold hands and kiss in the halls, but they were always together, always lightly touching when they thought no one was looking. At first the basketball team had teased Steve about it, about how close he was to Jonathan, but once they figure out that Nancy Wheeler was involved, they just peppered him with questions about her in bed. He would shrug them off, not wanting to bring her into locker room talk. 

People mostly left them alone and didn’t pry too much into their badly hidden threeway, which was fine by them. 

“I’m going shopping with my mom tomorrow,” Nancy said, shuffling the magazine pages together into a neat stack. 

“Have you told her?” Steve asked. They had talked about when and if they should all tell their parents. Joyce had found out accidentally at first, and they were all so relieved when she had accepted them. Steve’s parents honestly couldn’t care less who he was dating as long as he wasn’t out getting arrested and smearing the Harrington name. But Mrs. Wheeler was going to be the tricky one. 

“Not yet,” Nancy said, biting her bottom lip. “I’m going to tomorrow. She thinks I’m going with Jonathan because Mike said something about it.” 

“You think she’ll be okay with it?” Jonathan asked. Mrs. Wheeler had always been welcoming to him. She liked both boys when they had dated Nancy separately, so hopefully she’d be okay with the combination. 

“I don’t know. I hope so,” Nancy said earnestly. 

.

She slipped out of the house before the boys woke up, untangling herself from more limbs than she could count and silently dressing. Her mom thought she was staying at her friend Amy’s house that night, a lie that Nancy didn’t think her mom actually believed, so she made her way down the few blocks to Amy’s, waiting at the end of the driveway until her mom pulled up. 

“How was your night?” Mrs. Wheeler asked, smiling brightly at her daughter as she got into the passenger seat, tossing her bag into the back seat.

“It was good,” she said vaguely. 

“You excited to find a dress?” Mrs. Wheeler was incredibly excited to help her daughter pick out a prom dress. She remembered her own dress, a frothy pink monstrosity that she had loved at the time and now cringed at when she saw the pictures. 

“Yes. I think I want something blue,” she said. 

“That will be a wonderful color on you.” Every clothing store was stocked with prom dresses, all trying to get the business of the teens in Hawkins. They perused through a few, but Nancy couldn’t focus on finding the perfect dress when Steve and Jonathan were the only things she could think about. 

“Are you all right?”Karen asked Nancy as they entered their third store. Nancy trailed her fingers over a shimmery purple dress, feeling the material crinkle under her fingertips. 

“No,” she said. Karen reached out, putting her hands on Nancy’s small shoulders and looking at her seriously. 

“What’s going on? Did you and Jonathan break up?” Nancy shook her head, curls bouncing around her shoulders. 

“I’m not going to prom with just Jonathan,” she blurted out quietly. Karen looked confused. 

“Just Jonathan? What do you mean?” 

“I’m going with Steve also.” Karen raised her eyebrows, still confused but beginning ti piece things together. 

“So…you’re dating both of them?” She asked after a moment. “Nancy, I know that’s a thing teenagers do, but you can’t expect them to be okay with you having two boyfriends at Prom.” Nancy winced, knowing she was going to have to spell it out for her mother. 

“It’s not like that, Mom. It’s not me having two boyfriends like you think it is. We’re all dating each other. We’re…a couple.” 

“The three of you?” She asked. Nancy wanted to cry. She knew the tone her mom was using, the too careful tone of an adult who disapproved but didn’t want to cause a teenage rebellion. 

“Yes. The three of us. We’re all going together. We love each other, Mom.” Her voice was quiet but strong. She wasn’t going to apologize for loving the men in her life. 

“Hm.” Karen made a small noise, eyes focused on the green dress in front of her. “And Steve and Jonathan, they…are with each other as well?” Nancy nodded. “Well, I can’t say I fully understand, sweetheart. But just tell me you’re happy.”

Nancy smiled, remembering the sweet kisses from Steve as she was drifting off last night, Jonathan firmly holding her against his chest, already asleep. 

“I’m very happy. We all are.” Karen nodded. 

“Well okay, Nance. Let’s just…not tell your father yet. Let me explain it to him.” Nancy wrapped her arms around her mom, resting her face on her shoulder. 

“Thanks, mom.” Karen hugged her back, smoothing down her hair. 

“And I have some really good news,” Karen said, pulling back from the hug and nodding to a garment on the rack behind Nancy. “I think I just found your dress.”

.

The two weeks before Prom passed painfully slow. Nancy fell asleep looking at the black dress bag hanging on her closet door, knowing her dress was inside and she’d be at the dance with Steve and Jonathan soon. Her stomach flipped when she thought about it. On the Friday before Prom, she practically skipped to Steve’s car, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him sweetly. Jonathan joined them, carefully putting a hand on her lower back in greeting.

“Okay here’s the game plan,” she said. “You guys are going to get ready and come to my house around 4, then we’re going to take pictures and do all of that and then go grab dinner. After Prom, we’ll go back to Steve’s. Any questions?” 

“Should we take notes?” Steve joked. Nancy shot him a withering glare and he looked down, silently apologizing. 

“I want it to be perfect, okay? Just humor me,” she said. She missed the mischievous glance Jonathan and Steve exchanged as she tossed her bag in the backseat of Steve’s car. 

“It’s going to be great,” Jonathan assured her, squeezing her hand gently. Jonathan had gradually come around to the idea of Prom, mainly because Nancy and Steve were excited about it. He didn’t care who was crowned Prom King or Prom Queen, he didn’t care about the “Under the Sea” theme that was advertised on posters plastered all over the school, he didn’t even care that he wouldn’t be able to kiss Steve on the dance floor. He knew they’d have to make sacrifices to go together, but he was excited to see their faces. It felt like their entire high school careers had been leading up to this one event, or at least that’s what tv shows and movies had made him believe. 

“It is,” Steve agreed, putting his hand over Jonathan’s and Nancy’s, glancing around to make sure there wasn’t anyone else around. 

.

It was the day of Prom, and Nancy’s mom had spent hours doing her hair and makeup until it was perfect. Her curls fell around her face, pinned back slightly and letting her soft blue eyeshadow stand out. 

“You look wonderful,” Karen said, holding her daughters face in her hands. 

“Mom,” Nancy said, rolling her eyes with a smile. 

“Don’t do that, you’ll crease your makeup!” Karen said dramatically, smoothing her thumbs under Nancy’s eyes. Nancy batted her hands away and stood in front of the mirror on the back of her bedroom door. Her blue green dress shimmered, falling just above the floor in silk waves. It was simple, with no gemstones or sequins in sight, just a dazzling color and material that hugged her hips and thin straps that showed off her small shoulders. 

“Truly lovely,” Karen said, tears in her eyes. 

“Don’t cry, Mom! If you cry, I cry,” Nancy said, grinning. Karen waved her hands under her eyes, airing the tears away. 

“Okay okay, well the boys will be here any minute. Are you sure the three of you don’t want to stay for dinner?” 

“We’re getting something to eat downtown,” she said for the third time that night. 

“I told your father that you’re going to be staying at Linda’s tonight,” her mother said in a hushed tone. “I’m trusting you here, Nancy so be safe and careful.” Nancy blushed and nodded, looking down at the white strappy heels she was wearing. 

“I will,” she assured her. The doorbell rang through the house and the Wheeler women jumped excitedly.

“Stay here, I’ll let them in.” Karen rushed down the stairs and Nancy could hear the front door open. She had given them both the color of her dress from a swatch of fabric provided by the shop, and she knew their bowties would be matching her and the idea of the three of them tied to each other by the color draped on her body sent a thrill down her spine. She could hear high pitched compliments from her mother. 

“Nancy!” Her mother yelled up the stairs. Nancy took a breath and wound the white shawl around her arms before opening her bedroom door and walking down the stairs. Jonathan and Steve were standing at the closed front door looking absolutely dashing in their black tuxedos and green blue bowties. 

“Wow,” they said in unison, eyes glued to her as she carefully made her way down the stairs. 

“You look incredible,” Steve said once she was finally in front of them. 

“You really do,” Jonathan added. They both leaned in and kissed her on either cheek. She blushed, heart beating fast. 

“And you two look amazing,” she said. “Who knew.” They laughed, the tension of a formal situation breaking. 

“Okay, pictures!” Karen said, holding up the camera. Ted was behind her, smiling stiffly. He wasn’t really okay with his daughters two boyfriends but Karen had made him promise to be supportive and silent when Steve and Jonathan came over. 

They posed for a series of photos in the entryway of their home until Nancy was finally able to get them out the door. 

“Nance, you look….beautiful,” Jonathan said, opening the passenger door for her. She pressed a kiss to his lips before getting in. He got into the back as Steve started the car, leaning over and kissing her as well. Jonathan grinned and leaned between them, capturing Steve’s lips. Nancy giggled, turning on the radio. 

“Dinner!” She shouted after a minute, shoving Jonathan’s shoulder so he fell into the backseat. Steve laugh and slipped on his sunglasses, cranking up the volume and driving away. 

The dance was in full swing by the time they got there. Everything was bathed in blue light from the bulbs that had replaced the normal lights of the hotel ballroom. Cardboard fish and green streamers made the room look like the leftover set of a bad middle school musical but it was weirdly charming. Maybe it was the vodka they’d had in the car outside but Nancy felt like she could actually breathe underwater as Steve spun her out on the dance floor as a Tears For Fears song blasted through the crappy speaker system. Jonathan was watching them with a grin on his face. Everybody was so drunk or high that they didn’t seem to care about the strange threesome dancing together and they all felt young and free for the first time in public. 

Uptown Girl started to play and the room broke into cheers. Jonathan groaned and tried to back away. He hated this song but Steve and Nancy wouldn’t hear it. Steve’s hand found his own and he yanked Jonathan into the fray. Bodies were bouncing off them on all sides and it seemed only natural that the three of them were forced together. It was a little awkward to find a rhythm between them, bouncing and singing loudly to the song and Jonathan pretended to cover his ears in pain. Looking back, it would be one of the most wonderful moments of his life. 

When the opening notes of Phil Collins’ ‘Against All Odds’ began to play, the three of them, sweaty from dancing and a bit out of breath from screaming along to Billy Joel, looked at each other. Steve craned his neck and grabbed their hands, weaving them through the other couples on the dance floor and out the back door. The warm air outside felt cold and welcoming on their faces. Steve picked up a heavy rock and propped the door open, letting the piano ballad reverberate through the empty back parking lot. It was dark, but the flood lights and the moon gave off just enough light to let them see each other. it was awkward to try to slow dance with three people, and after a few moments of trying to wordlessly find the best way to stand, Nancy found herself pressed between the two boys. He arms were around Jonathan’s waist as Steve pressed against her back, one arm around her waist and one on Jonathan’s hip. Jonathan pulled Nancy close with one arm and tugged Steve close with the other. It was unwieldy and wasn’t so much dancing as hugging and swaying but in the cool night air with Phil Collins playing, it felt like everything. 

Steve was crowned Prom King and Tammy Thompson was crowned his Queen. They laughed and accepted the crows as Nancy and Jonathan hooted and hollered from the front of the crowd. It was stupid but Steve appreciated the cheap plastic crown on his head. His boyfriend and girlfriend only teased him a little about it that night as they piled back into Steve’s car and drove to his empty house. 

Jonathan and Nancy collapsed on the couch as Steve went to get them three beers from his fridge. They were kissing when he got back and he worked his way between them, leaning back and letting them continue to kiss in front of him. Eventually they broke apart and accepted the cans from Steve, who watched them with focused dark eyes. 

“So, Nance,” Steve said, turning to her. “Did it live up to your expectations?” She flashed a dazzling grin. 

“It was amazing,” she gushed. “I didn’t think I’d care so much but thank you both, thank you. You are the best, most handsome dates a girl could ask for.” She pulled off her white corsage from her wrist and tossed it onto the table, rubbing at the slightly pink indentation around her thin wrist.

“It was fun,” Jonathan said, resting his head on Steve’s shoulder. Steve let his hand drift to Jonathan’s thigh and he squeezed reassuringly, feeling Jonathan nuzzle into his neck. Nancy was on his left and she tossed her legs over his lap, bare feet resting on Jonathan’s leg. 

“I’m exhausted,” she admitted after a moment of comfortable silence. 

“Thank god you said that,” Steve said. “I mean, I totally want to have sex if you both do but I could also sleep for fifteen hours.” Jonathan barked out a laugh that Steve felt against his neck. 

“Me too,” he said, unable to stop from laughing. 

“We are the lamest teenagers ever,” Nancy said, joining in on the laughter. The three of them sat on the couch, wiping tears from their eyes and erupting into peals of laughter for the next few minutes. They were so giddy and tipsy that they lost the reason they were laughing somewhere along the way. 

“You think this is going to be like, the night we look back on in twenty years?” Nancy asked once they’d finally quieted down. 

“No,” Steve said, surprising her. “We’re going to look back on the night Jonathan got so high he tried to convince me to let him climb on the top of my car while I was driving.” Nancy laughed again, remembering. 

“I thought I was a bird,” Jonathan mumbled, stifling a yawn. 

“You can be a bird,” Nancy said, digging her heel into his thigh teasingly. 

“We can all be birds in the morning,” Steve said, pushing Nancy’s legs off his lap gently and standing up. He held out his hands and and pulled the two loves of his life up off the couch. “We can also be horny teenagers in the morning,” he said. “But let’s go be terrible teenagers and crash.” 

Nancy climbed onto his back, wrapping her legs around his waist from behind as he hoisted her and carried her upstairs, Jonathan following with his arms around Nancy, resting on Steve’s waist. They collapsed into bed and with the gentle strains of Phil Collins in their minds, drifted off to sleep. Steve and Nancy didn't notice Jonathan, who pulled a pillow over his ears and tried to will Uptown Girl to stop playing in his head all night.


End file.
